At the opening of the 26th Sessions of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government held at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,last week,a Nigerian scientist, Professor Umezuruike Linus Opara,emerged the winner of the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Continental Scientific Award in the field of Earth Science. Opara was conferred with the sum of $100,000.

Professor Umezuruike Linus Opara,is a professor of Agric Engineering.He is a researcher at the Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

The ceremony was moderated by the AU Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, Martial De Paul Ikounga. According to the commissioner, the Kwameh Nkrumah Continental Scientific Awards given at three levels: national, regional and continental was to honour African men and women in science who distinguished themselves by their contributions to African development through their work in the field of research and training.